Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher
Christopher Nolan is arguably the greatest director to premiere in the 21st Century, and Memento is the original film that put him on the map. With an incredible pattern of storytelling, Memento is one of the most “brain-scrambling” movies I’ve seen.
Following a man who can’t remember what happened just moments before, we are spiraled into a journey of “half forwards” and “half backwards” storytelling as he tries to uncover the mystery of who killed his wife. It’s hard enough writing and telling a story forwards, especially that of a good and compelling story, but to do it forwards, and backwards at the same time is insane. So basically to try to explain it as best as I can, this film begins at its end, as well as beginning and works its way to a center point, uncovering the mystery. It sounds incredibly confusing, but it is actually quite easy to understand thanks to Christopher Nolan’s very wise choice to swap between black & white and color.
As you can already probably see, this film is lacking nothing in the story space. It is masterfully written by Christopher Nolan, and is honestly the most original film I probably have ever seen. Even though the story itself is very straight forward, the tricks Nolan uses in order for us to feel and think in certain ways really creates an intense and revolving story. I love how we feel like the main character, we learn things as he does, because he can’t remember them.
This film like all other Nolan films to follow is beautifully shot and acted. Guy Pierce absolutely nailed this role with the uneasy feeling of someone who seems to know everything, but is completely clueless, and the best part is not once did I ever feel as though I was taken out of the film and didn’t understand what the emotions where within his character, or really any characters, heads.
I don’t want to say much more, because this film is something you need to experience. What really bothers me is the word that this film will be remade in the coming years. Like very soon! And this is something I want to bring up because after reading the article about this film being remade, I was struck with not understanding why they would remake this film which is only 16 years old. After reading an article on The Hollywood Reporter, the man behind it Monika Bacardi said…
“Memento is a masterpiece that leaves audiences guessing not just throughout the film, but long after as well, which is a testament to its daring approach. We intend to stay true to Christopher Nolan’s vision and deliver a memorable movie that is every bit as edgy, iconic and award-worthy as the original. It’s a big responsibility to deliver something that lives up to the mastery of the original, but we are extremely excited and motivated to bring this puzzle back to life and back into the minds of moviegoers.”
So wait a moment? Why would you remake something 16 years after its release, not being a franchise or re-boot friendly film like Batman, Superman, Friday the 13th, yet want to stay true to the original… and puzzle people? That means the original has already ruined the puzzle and we will be getting the same film, but with maybe more explosions if Michael Bay gets ahold of it (joking, calm yourself). Well I hope this doesn’t happen, because it’s mainly just a waste of filmmaker’s time. Go watch the Nolan one and enjoy! Memento of course gets a 5/5, and maybe if Michael Bay directs the new one, they can pull in a solid 0.5/5 lol. Hope you enjoyed my rant, and go see it for yourself and tell me what you think!
Score: 5/5
Memento Director: Christopher Nolan Writer: Christopher Nolan Studio: Summit Entertainment Running Time: 113 Minutes Release Date: 9/5/00